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Alberta was one of the coldest places on Earth Tuesday.
On its website wx-now.com, Weather Now at one point listed the Calgary area as among the coldest places in the world Tuesday morning, trailing only Antarctica.
Weather Now, run by Chicago-based independent consultant David Braverman, collects data from 2,500 airports in the U.S. and another 1,000 around the world provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
But because the website does not include data from many towns and cities, places like Sundre, Alta., which hit a record -39.3C, didn’t appear on the list, but were actually colder than the Antarctica station, said Braverman.
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said Calgary hit -30C, which felt like -41C with the windchill.
“Alberta was colder than the North Pole,” said Phillips on Tuesday.
“We’re not seeing those temperatures in Russia, in Siberia.
“Alberta is definitely one of the coldest places on Earth today.”
Though Calgary’s temperature was well-below the average of 0C for this time of year, Phillips said Calgarians actually had it better than some Albertans Tuesday morning.
Ten sites around the province broke weather records for coldest Nov. 23 ever including Rocky Mountain House at -37.8, Banff at -35.6C, Coronation at -36.5, Drumheller at -34.7, Red Deer at -35.3 and Edmonton at -34.9C.
Meanwhile, Toronto’s morning temperature was 14C and Ottawa’s was 13C, said Phillips.
But though Calgary’s been struck by a bad bout of winter this week, it’s unusual for this time of year, he said.
In fact, during this week in 2009, Calgarians were experiencing temperatures as high as 15C.
Calgary mom Kjerstine Young is originally from Bloomington, Ill. but moved to here earlier this year, as this is where her husband is from.
She said the deep freeze comes as a shock to her system, since the temperature in her hometown is much more moderate, especially at this time of year.
“I don’t want to go outside, I just want to stay inside and be a hermit,” she laughed.
Young wasn’t the only one staying in Tuesday.
Calgary Zoo spokeswoman Laurie Herron said attendance was affected by the weather and dedicated Calgarians who did brave the cold flocked to the indoor attractions.
But she said staff is pleased the temperature is supposed to be back to normal by Friday when Zoolights open.
Environment Canada is calling for highs of -13C Wednesday, -5C Thursday, 1C Friday and -1C Saturday and Sunday.
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/11/23/16282731.html
